Mat Ishbia, the chief executive of United Wholesale Mortgage, is nearing an agreement to acquire a majority stake in the N.B.A.’s Phoenix Suns and the W.N.B.A.’s Phoenix Mercury in a deal that values the teams at $4 billion, according to people who were familiar with the negotiations but not authorized to discuss them publicly.
Robert Sarver, the majority owner of the teams, announced that he would sell them in September, after an N.B.A. investigation found that he had mistreated employees over many years, including by using racist language.
The pending deal, which was first reported by ESPN, will not be finalized until it is approved by the N.B.A.’s board of governors.
The sale price of $4 billion is about 10 times what a Sarver-led group paid for the teams in 2004 and would be a league record. The previous high price was Joe Tsai’s full acquisition of the Nets in 2019, valuing the franchise at $2.35 billion. It is the second-most expensive acquisition of an American sports franchise in history, behind only the sale of the N.F.L.’s Denver Broncos for $4.65 billion earlier this year.
Spokespeople for the Suns, Mercury and United Wholesale Mortgage did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In September, the N.B.A. suspended Sarver for a year and fined him $10 million — the maximum allowed — after an investigation found that he had used racial slurs and treated female employees inequitably over many years. The punishment generated significant backlash, with players and fans saying that it was not harsh enough. Amid that pressure, Sarver said he would sell the Phoenix basketball teams, citing an “unforgiving climate.
Ishbia, 42, who played for Michigan State’s men’s basketball team, has wanted to buy a professional sports team for some time. Last month, he announced that he was interested in purchasing the N.F.L.’s Washington Commanders. He had also bid for the Broncos before they were sold in June to the Walton and Penner families.
Ishbia began researching the Suns organization after Sarver decided to sell his stake, and he spent time in Phoenix during the past two months to better understand the market, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. Ishbia “fell in love” with the market and decided to aggressively pursue purchasing the team, the person said. Ishbia lives in the Detroit area, where United Wholesale Mortgage is based, and would not move to Phoenix if he is approved to buy the team, the person said.
Ishbia’s brother, Justin Ishbia, a managing partner at the Chicago-based investing firm Shore Capital, will be an investor in the deal and part of the management team, according to two people familiar with the negotiations.
Mat Ishbia was a guard for Michigan State, where he won a national championship in 2000. He told Crain’s Detroit Business in 2020 that he was the “14th best player on a 14-person team.” After graduating from business school at Michigan State in 2003, Ishbia began to work for United Wholesale Mortgage, which his father, Jeff Ishbia, founded in 1986. United Wholesale Mortgage went public in 2021.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
